The SNP leadership race dominates Scotland’s front pages. The Scottish Mail on Sunday reports that Kate Forbes “plans to destroy Nicola Sturgeon’s legacy” by undoing the bottle return scheme. The paper also says Forbes would block her party’s proposal to ban alcohol advertising, which she fears will harm the whiskey industry.
Scottish ministers have been urged to stop the controversial deposit take-back scheme after an investigation by Scotland on Sunday shows that the owners of the company tasked with collecting and sorting billions of bottles and cans every year are a “major climate polluter”. The paper also carries a picture of Scotland’s players preparing for the crucial Six Nations match against France in Paris.
The Sunday Post opens with an interview with Kate Forbes in which she says the Scots are “not ready” for another independence referendum. Mrs. Forbes is running against health secretary Humza Yousaf and former community safety minister Ash Regan in the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and prime minister.
Meanwhile, The Herald reports that Muslim leaders have intervened in the SNP leadership contest, describing the debate over religious beliefs as “deeply troubling”. The Association of Mosques has expressed concern about the “tone and tenor” of the leadership race, but will not support any candidate, according to the paper.
The Scottish Sun reports that SNP leadership candidate Ash Regan would let former Prime Minister Alex Salmond join the party if she were elected. Salmond launched his own independence-focused Alba party in March 2021.
The Sunday National says Yousaf is ready to “step up” its independence campaign by holding regional rallies across the country. The paper says he also described the party’s coalition deal with the Scottish Greens as “worth its weight in gold”.
Police interviewed senior SNP members over allegations of fraud days before Nicola Sturgeon’s shock resignation, reports the Sunday Mail. The newspaper says former treasurer Douglas Chapman has spoken to detectives and other key figures have been contacted in connection with the investigation into claims of £600,000 in referendum money – codenamed Operation Branchform.
The Scottish Daily Express’s lead story is the discovery of two bodies following a massive search operation for the missing crew of a tugboat after it capsized off Greenock in Inverclyde on Friday.
And the Sunday Telegraph says Rishi Sunak is ready to drop Boris Johnson’s NI Protocol Bill, which gives the UK government the power to tear up parts of the current deal with the EU, as part of its new deal with Brussels. Writing for the paper, Sunak says the bill has always been a “last resort”.
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